Press Notes

Contacts: PRESS NOTES Marlea Willis-­‐ EPIX: (212) 846-­‐6748/ [email protected] Danielle Manning-­‐EPIX: (212) 846-­‐7966/ [email protected] Lina Plath-­‐ Frank PR: (646) 861-­‐0843/ [email protected] SYNOPSIS Brought to the screen by the creators of the hit doc THE PEOPLE vs. GEORGE LUCAS, The EPIX Original Documentary Doc of the Dead delves deep into the evolution of the zombie genre in film and literature, as well as its impact and influence on pop culture, to deliver a comprehensive, fast-­‐paced, highly entertaining look at a contemporary social pandemic of global proportions. Doc of the Dead hosts a rich and entertaining dialogue with zombie authors, filmmakers and scholars, and features a host of zombie icons (Max Brooks, Bruce Campbell, Robert Kirkman, Simon Pegg, George A. Romero, Tom Savini and many more!) Photos for press use available at: http://press.epixhd.com/programming/doc-­‐of-­‐the-­‐dead/ For Publicity Inquiries: Marlea Willis – EPIX: (212) 846-­‐6748 / [email protected] Danielle Manning – EPIX: (212) 846-­‐7966 / [email protected] Lina Plath – Frank PR: (646) 861-­‐0843 / [email protected] DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT Five years ago, I attended my very first San Diego Comic-­‐Con to shoot a handful of interviews for THE PEOPLE vs. GEORGE LUCAS. It wasn’t just my first Comic-­‐Con-­‐-­‐it was my first pop culture convention of any kind; and I was surprised to see so many people dressed up as zombies, and to come across booths dedicated to zombie magazines, and a plethora of zombie comics other than The Walking Dead. Surely, if living corpses could even remotely threaten to steal Captain America’s mojo, or Thor’s thunder-­‐-­‐on their turf!-­‐-­‐something worth exploring was unfolding in the realm of popular culture. That day, I became obsessed with the question: why zombies? And why now? I had to put my investigation on hold to focus on my next feature doc, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PAUL THE PSYCHIC OCTOPUS. This turned out to be a good thing. Three years later, zombies had become more popular than sparkling vampires, more outrageous than Lady Gaga sporting her meat dress, more numerous than Occupy protesters on a warm day. Our timing couldn’t have been more appropriate. Thus began a two-­‐year odyssey to produce the definitive zombie culture documentary-­‐-­‐a comprehensive look at the rise of the living dead, from their inception in Africa centuries ago and Haitian voodoo to George A. Romero’s creation of the modern zombie, the cinematic and cultural explosions that ensued… all the way to WORLD WAR Z, and a world brimming with PG-­‐13 zombie flicks and zom-­‐rom-­‐coms. Thanks to EPiX and our Executive Producer Mike Ruggiero, we were able to finish this very important and timely film. It’s an epic doc, chock-­‐full of surprises for the neophytes, and fan service for the most hardcore zombie purists out there (riding out the apocalypse with Simon Pegg, Bruce Campbell and Sid Haig, anyone..?); and I couldn’t be prouder to share it with those who might be wondering, like I was five years ago: why zombies? And why now? Alexandre O Philippe Director, DOC OF THE DEAD DOC OF THE DEAD AN EPIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY-­‐ CREDITS President, EPIX Mark Greenberg Executive Producer Michael Ruggiero EPIX Director of Original Documentaries Jill Burkhart Director Alexandre O. Philippe Writers Alexandre O. Philippe Chad Herschberger Producers Kerry Deignan Roy Robert Muratore Co-­‐Producers Shannon Muchow Jonathan London Georg Kallert Director of Photography Robert Muratore Editor Chad Herschberger Consulting Producer Sarah Juliet Lauro Associate Producer Steve Belgard Original Song Beautiful Zombie by Toddy Ivy DOC OF THE DEAD AN EPIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY-­‐ CREW Production Assistant Richard Roy TORONTO Sound Adam Labadie Grip Maxim Vlassenko SAN DIEGO Sound Mark Schulze LA Additional Camera Pablo Berron Sound Jared Simmons Sound Mike Baum Sound Dan Cook Production Assistant Matt Walsh Production Assistant Mike Baker UK Sound / Grip / Driver Rory Merisfield NY Grip Peter Mychalcewycz HAITI Field Producer Mario L. Delatour -­‐ Amistad Films Post Production Post-­‐Production Services provided by Milkhaus Post-­‐ Production Coordinator Cathy Trekloff Assistant Editor Patrick Huber Color Correction Dave Krahling Sound Mix Davis Coombe Intern Brigid Igoe Intern Mario Fierro Illustrations and Poster Art by Charlie Adlard The Walking Dead Illustrations provided by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard & Skybound Illustrations by DJ Parnell Zombie Art by George Pfau Jillian Mcdonald Geekscape Segments Written and Directed by Jonathan London and Produced by Georg Kallert Director of Photography Mathew Rudenberg Mr. Plinkett Segments Written, Produced and Directed by Mike Stoklasa and Jay Bauman ICONS OF THE DEAD INTERVIEWS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER v
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Charlie Adlard (Artist, The Walking Dead) Joanna Angel (Adult Film Star & Director) Steve Barton (Dread Central) Max Beauvoir (Supreme Vodou Houngan) John Bibby (ZED Enterprises) Kyle William Bishop (Author, American Zombie Gothic) Dr. Susan Block (Sex Therapist) Dr. Arnold T. Blumberg Max Brooks (Author, World War Z, The Zombie Survival Guide) S.G. Browne (Author, Breathers) Bruce Campbell (Actor, Evil Dead Trilogy) Cory Casciato (Writer, Denver Westword) Alex Cox (Filmmaker, Repo Man) Emerante de Pradines-­‐Morse (Vodou Mambo & Entertainer) Mario L. Delatour (Haitian Filmmaker) Richard Gates (A Plus Survival) Stuart Gordon (Director, Re-­‐Animator) Sid Haig (Horror Icon) John Harrison (Director and Composer) David Hughes (Assistant Professor of Entomology and Biology Pennsylvania State University) Ron Hubbard (Atlas Survival Shelters) Jacqui Holland (Actress) Nicholas Iannitti (Zombie Industries) Robert Kirkman (Creator/Writer/Executive Producer The Walking Dead) Fran Kranz (Actor, Cabin in the Woods) Sarah Juliet Lauro (Professor Clemson University) Theresa Mercado (Beauty Queen Corpses and Crowns Beauty Pageant) Matt Mogk (Founder/Director, Zombie Research Society) Kyle McCammon (Major Surplus & Survival) Thea Munster (Toronto Zombie Walk Creator) Greg Nicotero (Director, Executive Producer The Walking Dead) Judith O’Dea (“Barbara”, Night of the Living Dead) Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead) John A. Russo (Producer/Writer) Tom Savini (SFX Makeup Artist) Steven Schlozman (Author, The Zombie Autopsies) Howard Sherman (“Bub”, Day of the Dead) Russ Streiner (“Johnny”, Night of the Living Dead) Brian Yuzna (Producer, Re-­‐Animator) FILMMAKER BIOGRAPHIES Alexandre O. Philippe-­‐ Director Alexandre O. Philippe holds a Masters Degree in Dramatic Writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and is Creative Director of Denver-­‐based Cinema Vertige. He has written, directed and produced numerous award-­‐winning films and documentaries—most of which are dedicated to the appreciation and preservation of our popular culture. His latest, THE PEOPLE vs. GEORGE LUCAS, is widely recognized as one of the best films ever made about geek culture, and remains groundbreaking in its use of crowdsourcing and fan participation. PvsG premiered at a number of top-­‐tier festivals, including SXSW (Spotlight Premiere), Hot Docs, Edinburgh IFF, AFI Silverdocs, Filmfest München, Rome IFF, Stockholm IFF, Istanbul Film Festival, and CPH:DOX (among many others). Following a limited theatrical run, THE PEOPLE vs. GEORGE LUCAS was recently released on DVD/Blu-­‐Ray by Lionsgate Entertainment (US), Wrekin Hill Entertainment (UK, Australia, NZ, South Africa), Kinosmith (Canada), Capelight (Germany, Switzerland), Initiative One/BAC Films (France), and Fine Films (Japan). Alexandre's current and upcoming projects include the official documentary about Paul the Psychic Octopus (in partnership with Merlin Entertainments and NZ-­‐based Smiley World Media); the official LEGO documentary (with recent Oscar-­‐winning documentary filmmaker Daniel Junge); a comic book series; and a feature-­‐length psychological thriller. Robert Muratore-­‐ Producer/Director of Photography Robert Muratore has worked professionally as a cinematographer for over twenty years, shooting long-­‐ and short-­‐form projects on virtually every format under the sun. In addition, he has directed and co-­‐produced several of those projects. Robert has garnered many awards for his work, including an Emmy for Best Cinematography (DOWNTOWN DENVER 2008) and a Movie Maverick Award for Best Cinematography (WHEN THE DRAGON SWALLOWED THE SUN), as well as numerous film festival awards. Robert shot Alexandre Philippe’s critically-­‐acclaimed short films THE SPOT and INSIDE, which screened at major film festivals around the world, as well as THE PEOPLE vs. GEORGE LUCAS (which he also co-­‐produced). Robert is also well known for his cinematography and role as Jean ‘Frenchy’ Cabazon in Trey Parker’s cult hit CANNIBAL: THE MUSICAL. Current projects include the feature-­‐length documentary THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PAUL THE PSYCHIC OCTOPUS (shot mostly in Europe, and with a release planned to coincide with the 2014 World Cup); THE FRAME by writer/director Jamin Winans; and a comprehensive documentary on the life of Evel Knieval to be announced soon. Robert’s alter ego, R. Gonzago Corvo, is the acclaimed fine art photographer behind the darkly carnivalesque world of the CORVO BROTHERS (www.corvobrothers.com). Kerry Deignan Roy-­‐ Producer Throughout her 20 years of film and video production experience, Kerry Deignan Roy has worked on numerous award winning independent narrative films and documentaries as producer, director, assistant director, and production manager. Doc of the Dead is her fourth collaboration with Director Alexandre Philippe, after the award-­‐winning shorts LEFT (for New Moment Films), INSIDE (for Cinema Vertige), and most recently, the pop-­‐culture break-­‐out documentary feature, THE PEOPLE vs. GEORGE LUCAS (for Exhibit A Pictures)—recently released on DVD/Blu-­‐Ray by Lionsgate (US), Wrekin Hill Entertainment (UK, Australia, NZ, South Africa), Kinosmith (Canada), Capelight (Germany, Switzerland), Initiative One/BAC Films (France), and Fine Films (Japan). In her many years as Production Manager for Denver Center Media, she contributed to a number of award-­‐winning documentaries, including NO BIGGER THAN A MINUTE, STAGESTRUCK (a three-­‐part series for Bravo), and ANCIENT VOICES, which marked the first attempt to seamlessly integrate two full-­‐resolution HD images, and project them as a single, continuous film. Kerry is also the recipient of a Cine Golden Eagle for her work on the internationally distributed documentary film TANTALUS: BEHIND THE MASK. Chad Herschberger-­‐ Editor Chad Herschberger attended the Colorado Film School, and is a Partner and Senior Editor at Milkhaus, Colorado’s most successful documentary post-­‐production facility (whose films have been nominated for two Academy Awards (winning one), and screened at Sundance, TIFF, SXSW, Hot Docs, IDFA, and many others). Chad’s extensive credit list includes programming aired on PBS, BBC, The Discovery Channel, Bravo, Food Network, HBO and MTV. He most recently worked on two feature-­‐length documentaries: as the supervising editor on WHEN THE DRAGON SWALLOWED THE SUN, and as the lead editor, graphics & composite artist on THE PEOPLE vs. GEORGE LUCAS. Chad co-­‐directed, shot, and edited the feature documentary STILL, about abstract expressionist painter Clyfford Still. The film premiered at the Starz Denver Film Festival in 2011, and had multiple sold out screenings in addition to airing on PBS. Currently, Chad is directing a short documentary on the new Colorado Justice Center building in downtown Denver. GEEKSCAPE-­‐ Creative Partner Launched in 2006 by filmmaker Jonathan London (GAY BY DAWN, SINGLEDOM), GEEKSCAPE is a popular geek culture podcast and online community. The website receives 100,000 visitors a month, while the popular podcast has a subscription base of 20,000 weekly listeners. Some of Geekscape’s previous guests include geek icon Simon Pegg (SHAUN OF THE DEAD, STAR TREK), Doug Jones (HELLBOY, PAN’S LABYRINTH), Brea Grant (HEROES), Ahmed Best (a.k.a. Jar Jar Binks from STAR WARS EPISODE I), Dante Basco (Rufio from HOOK, AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER), Felicia Day (THE GUILD), director Troy Duffy (BOONDOCK SAINTS), comedian Paul Scheer (THE LEAGUE), and many more. In October of 2010, Geekscape began sponsoring ZomBCon Seattle, an annual zombie culture convention that has featured horror guests like Bruce Campbell, George Romero, Tom Savini, and Max Brooks. Geekscape also has an annual presence at the San Diego Comic-­‐Con. RED LETTER MEDIA-­‐ Creative Partner RED LETTER MEDIA was launched by Milwaukee-­‐based filmmakers Mike Stoklasa and Jay Bauman. They are responsible for creating the infamous "70-­‐Minute Phantom Menace Review" (4 million hits on YouTube), as well as other popular film reviews via an online persona named Mr. Plinkett. The movie reviews can be seen on YouTube and on www.redlettermedia.com. Mike and Jay have created a slew of shorts and feature films, most notably 2010’s FEEDING FRENZY, and THE GRABOWSKIS—an online sitcom series. In 2010, Mike was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s top 25 filmmakers to watch, and his reviews have received praise from Damon Lindelof (Co-­‐Creator and Executive Producer of LOST), Simon Pegg, Patton Oswalt, Rob Zombie, and Roger Ebert. The Mr. Plinkett review series has also received press from Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Slashfilm, Ain’t it Cool News, and many more. Currently, Mike and Jay are producing HALF IN THE BAG, a popular movie review series hosted by Mr. Plinkett himself.